Fun facts about this beverage: yes, it is legal in the USA. Yes, it contains thujone. I do not know if it will cause you to hallucinate, but it is indeed brewed with wormwood. More about Le Tourment Vert (in French: "The Green Torment") from absinthe aficionado website absintheology.com:

INGREDIENTS (as found in all traditional absinthes) Holy Trinity: Anise, Fennel & Grand Wormwood (Artemisia Absinthium). Plus, it contains aromatic herbs including Sage, Rosemary and Coriander. Le Tourment Vert contains the maximum dosage of thujone currently allowed by the United States Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB).

Virgin Atlantic’s international flights have already been selling La Fee Absinthe Parisienne, 68%abv, the full size 75cl bottles in their inflight duty-free for US$50 for quite a while. They were the first airline in the world to EVER sell absinthe (La Fee) duty-free, and now serve it as well. The La Fee is a traditional French absinthe which “louches” – goes cloudy – like Pastis, and tastes of anise. It’s much stronger than Le Tourment Vert as its 68%abv (136 degrees proof), while Le Tourment is a lower abv. with a different taste. So Virgin are the only airline to be both selling AND now serving absinthe inflight.

Wow, frogmarch, you left the average American in the dust with that post. I nearly snorted coffee on “pastis flavored with lawn trimmings”. I bet you could buy that in Provence, though, somebody ought to do a comparison.

The absinthe featured in Guy de Maupassaint tales had 5 to ten times as much wormwood, people who indulged got all crazy and people who overindulged got all dead.

Having both made absinthe and tried the real thing in europe I’d have to say that the only reason it’s different than other liquor is that the alchohol content is usually around 60% or higher (120 proof).
The guy that makes lucid absinthe ran samples of vintage pre-ban absinthe through a gas chromatograph and discovered that the levels of thujone were miniscule – definitely not enough to cause hallucinations.
Here’s an article in wired about it.
Basically, it seems that all the hallucinations and ear chopping and all that were due to heavy metal poisoning from fake absinthe.

I’ve been drinking Pernod for years, ever since I visited France. It’s actually based on absinthe without the wormwood, and it’s much, MUCH, better than absinthe. It’s had 50+ years to evolve its taste to the people of France’s tastebuds. Pernod is actually the most consumed (non-wine) alcohol in France. Instead of beer, they just pour about a shot of Pernod in a big tall glass and fill the rest with ice cold water (no ice though).

Still, the whole absinthe craze is actually making me embarrassed to buy Pernod, I feel like I’m on the hipstertrain to douchetown.

The Green Torment is the most godawful disgusting swill that has ever called itself absinthe in the US. It rivals some of the horrible czechsinths in its unpalatable grossness… looking and tasting of mouthwash!

I hope they start serving some decent brands(there are a number which are great… Leopold Brothers, Kubler, Marteau, etc) as well. LTV turns many off absinthe before they have a chance to taste the real thing.

Absinthe reminds me of the kids in the movie “Go” who believed they were tripping balls when all they took was an aspirin. “Ohh! I can feel it!” I’m sure there’s some kind of effect, but compared to legitimate reality-wrecking drugs it’s got to be a complete lightweight.

However, it is still alcohol. So it can still fuck you up plenty good.

The assumption has been made in this thread that I was being disparaging when I asserted that absinthe tastes like unicorn vomit. Nothing could be further from the truth!

Everything emitted by a unicorn is delightful and enjoyable. Their vomit has a subtle, sweet flavor and a smooth, velvety texture. It resembles kiwi jelly spiked with fairy dust and starlight, only better.

Their poop is actually Twinkies. Why do you think Hostess allows no tours of their Twinkie factory? Because it’s full of unicorns pooping.

As to leprechaun piss, everything that comes out of a leprechaun is vile and disgusting. I have no need to sample it to know that this is so. Just a whiff of a leprechaun’s breath will cause a strong man’s lungs to collapse in agony. Sample a leprechaun’s piss? I think not!

“Most absinthe contains a tiny amount of wormwood compared to what it used to have. i.e. it won’t make you feel like Baudelaire did, nowhere close.”

Got any sources on that?

According to the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, you’re talking out of your ass.

“The analysis of postban (1915â€“1988) and modern commercial absinthes (2003â€“2006) showed that the encompassed thujone ranges of all absinthes are quite similar, disproving the supposition that a fundamental difference exists between preban and modern absinthes manufactured according to historical recipes. Analyses of pinocamphone, fenchone, base spirits, copper, and antimony were inconspicuous. All things considered, nothing besides ethanol was found in the absinthes that was able to explain the syndrome â€œabsinthismâ€.”

Read this article on Ted Breaux, a New Orleans native, chemist and environmental microbiologist, who makes absinthe based on pre-ban protocols and the chemical analysis of a sealed bottle of the stuff from the 1800’s. It seems that there is a huge difference in quality of the available absinthes. I have have yet to try anything but homebrew versions, but I think a sampling of the well made stuff would be worth it.

Absinthe can be quite delcious, but La Tourment Vert, as others have noted, is pretty bad. I stupidly bought a full bottle because I liked how it looked. I also tend to think that absinthe is a bad choice for flying, since the traditional absinthe drip requires one to set a sugar cube on fire, which I’m guessing the FAA would frown on.

I’ve tried his Edouard and quite enjoyed it, but I’m also a big fan of pastis. You have to really like things flavored with anise, but Breaux’s varieties are a lot more nuanced than the few versions available in Canada (particularly the Czech stuff, which is quite harsh and not especially improved by the addition of sugar).

I have tried this particular brand, Le Tourment Vert, and I must say, it is terrible. It may be the worst absinthe available in the U.S. right now. Perhaps the grossest part is the artificial coloring that makes it look like mouthwash.

#33: ‘Death in the Afternoon’, also known as a Hemingway is my fave. It’s my birthday drink.
Absinthe hangovers are bad, granted, but only if you’ve never been a regular Carlsberg Special Brew drinker. Nothing beats a Tramp Juice hangover.

In “my opinion” Ltv is just high priced swill.
It is only slightly better than Fruko Shultz, Tabu
or Hapsburg and the like. The only difference being
That LTV has a marketing firm “Cashmere” to harass
bloggers and shove their product down everyone’s
throats and to shut down people critical of their swill. And with the extra added Blue 40 and
Yellow #5 it hardly qualifies as absinthe. If it looks and tastes like mouthwash it probably is. Especially with that minty taste. Not to mention the fact that it barely louches. Also I must add Thujone is an neurotoxin that will cause brain lesions and sesiures before you will ever get to trip balls.

When I had absinthe (true absinthe, not the American variety) in Canada, it had a more of an affect on me that consuming alcohol. Maybe I’m missing some scientific data that disputes my experience, but I don’t understand where people are coming from when they say its a placebo affect.

The added “high,” if you will, was very mild and no where close to an hallucination, but it did have an altered state apart from the buzz of alcohol. (In specifics, I remember the the quality of the sunlight was richer, more vibrant, and softer at the same time).

My friends who had bought the bottle paid dearly for it, so maybe there’s a variable here of quality vs qauntity as well.

Absinthe does not cause hallucinations. Copper poisoning likely does though, which probably explains where that myth came from. But the good ones do give you an excellent buzz that is different and better than traditional liquor. LTV is one of the worst ones I’ve tried, along with a few artificially colored Czech ones. Your standard $60/bottle ones are very good. The best low priced one is Kubler which is around $40 for a liter. One of the advantages of drinking Absinthe vs liquor is that you only need about 4 drinks containing one shot each throughout a night to feel good and there is no hangover. 5 oz Absinthe + 15 oz water + small amount of ice makes for no hangover, trust me. I usually sweeten it with stevia or splenda as sugar is also a hangover culprit. Its not for everyone but I enjoy it more than any liquor and virtually any beer or wine and I have never gotten a single hangover after drinking it about 50 times.

Absinthe’s reputtion for inducing madness probably has more to do with the fact that the people most known for drinking it were artists, poets, writers and other artistic types who are already known for being a wee bit on the loopy side.

Last time I got drunk on absinthe (it’s completely legal in the UK, my nearest Tesco stocks two brands) I decided it did have something extra to it.

On the other hand, I was drunk, so I’m not sure I’m to be trusted on that.

I don’t know if it’s because I’m no longer 18, or because it just became fashionable for a couple of years, but I haven’t seen anyone order it for a long time (excluding complicated cocktails including it as an ingredient).

The first “absinthe” I had was that LTV dreck, on my birfday last year. The restaurant here in Oregon did the Czech flame job on the neon-aqua synth-sinthe, and all I got was licorice liqueur. Blech!

Now I know better. The real McCoy is tinted only with chlorophyl, no food dyes, and the sugar is optional and not to be burnt. Usually dilute the good stuff from 3:1 to 5:1. The “louche” occurs from the aromatic oils forming tiny droplets in suspension in the water when the icewater is added.

I’ve had some yummy Kubler Blanche since then, and look forward to affording a bottle of Marteau, or La Coquette. I’d also like to try anything by Jade Liqueurs, especially the PF 1901, but such are kinda hard to come by. Thankfully the Marteau is in a local shop!

Absinthe is the disgusting shit that tourists drink. It seems to serve no other purpose. It certainly tastes horrible – like oversweetened mouthwash.

Most absinthe contains a tiny amount of wormwood compared to what it used to have. i.e. it won’t make you feel like Baudelaire did, nowhere close.

What it will do is give you a horrible hangover, maybe even before you leave the bar.

Here’s a tip. When you come to Prague, instead of drinking absinthe, enjoy the site of some people (possibly american college girls but I’ll not stereotype anyone here ;) doing a couple shots of absinthe and watching the degradation within minutes. From red cheeks, to laughter, to massaging each other, to stumbling around, to resembling an overripe slime mold.